


I Never Would've Guessed

by JustBeingWeird



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Character Death, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Henry is a good dad, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Minor Original Character(s), Multi, My First AO3 Post, Nightmares, Or Is It?, What am I doing, hell lotta angst, past bullying, visions?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2019-11-27 07:00:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18191285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustBeingWeird/pseuds/JustBeingWeird
Summary: Sal starts to act quite strange. His friends don't pay much attention to his weird behavior,that is until.. Sal is found dead in his room.Larry and Ashley can't believe that their usually positive and optimistic friend has committed suicide,and decide to investigate.With the help of Todd and supernatural characters, they find a whole world of secretsabout the apartments and the past of Sal that they never got to know about.





	1. The Death Of Sal Fisher

**Author's Note:**

> TW ahead!!!!! Suicide  
> Ok, so this is my first AO3 post and..i have no idea what am i doing or why. I just had this idea and decided to do something with it i guess, so i'll see where it goes. Anyway, enjoy!

"Yeah Larry, literally can't wait to see you in Eye-liner." Ashley joked. "No one said it was for women only! it's pretty metal!" He justified.

"Pretty, yes. But metal-" Apparently Larry's idea to use eye-liner to draw on his face for a Sanity's Fall concert wasn't as cool as he thought it'd be. "Besides,where would you get it from? Hope you didn't plan on using mine,cause that's not gonna happen."Ash stated. Larry fell silent. Everyone bursted in laughter at Larry's reaction- except for Sal, who seemed to be staring into nothing and subcontiously poking at the food on his tray. Larry furrowd his eyebrows.

 

"Somthing wrong, dude? You seem a bit off." Larry whispered to him while Ashley was talking to Todd about his mom's makeup set or something. "What? Oh, yeah, just..not hungry." Sal replied quietly. "I get ya, bro. Would'nt wanna eat this either, y'know", He smiled and pointed at the mystery bowl of..mashed potatos? He hoped that that's what it was, anyway. No wonder Sal lost his appetite. "Heh, yeah." Sal smiled back at him.That's a good sign-maybe he really just wasn't hungry- so Larry dropped it and went back to the conversation. Sal sighed in relief-he really didn't want to be caught lying right now.He wasn't too good at it either and he knew that if Larry pushed it he won't be able to come up with another excuse. The bell rang, signaling to everyone that class is about to begin. The small group threw away their leftovers and made their way to their classes.

During class, Larry couldn't help but to look over at Sal, to make sure he's doing okay. Also because physics was boring as hell and he could'nt stand it (why'd he choose it, anyway??), but mostly because he was worried.He remembered that this is the third day in a row that Sal didn't eat his lunch. He'll ask him later again just to make sure he's not going through something. It happened every now and then that Sal just stares off or loses sleep or just acts more quiet than normal. It made Larry think that maybe he's not telling him something, Sal is a terrible liar, after all.Larry just wanted to look after him when it happens, mostly because Sal would insist that he's okay and can handle himself. He thinks about it a bit more and he notices that all week Sal hadn't called him in the middle of the night because of the nightmares- but every day he still comes to school in an almost zombie-state. Means.. they're getting worse and he didn't tell him?? Something is definetly wrong. Larry made a mental note to press the subject next time so Sal couldn't avoid it again.

The rest of the day went by pretty much calm, beside a few glares and insults from Travis, but that was nothing new. Larry still had to restrain himself from punching the hell out of him when he almost tripped Sal, who probably zoned out again. The final bell rang and Larry rushed out to wait for Sal outside, so they could walk home together.Sal had gym class for the last period.He probably waited again until everyone left so he could change in peace. Finally Sal came out the front door, stuffing something that looked like a small piece of paper into his backpack. "what'cha got there,bro?" Larry asked, intrested. "That? just some sketches and stuff.The gym teacher said i looked sick or something so i sat on the bench the entire period. I hate gym classes anyways." Sal explained.  "Sweet! can i see it?" "Uh.. I don't know-" Sal seemed to slightly panic at the request. "It's cool, little dude. I won't if you don't want me to." He reassured. Sal sighed and mumbled a 'Thanks' as they started walking home. He was so grateful that Larry never rushes him to do anything he doesn't want to, even if it was as small as showing off some stupid sketches. He smiles to himself at that.

* * *

"See ya sally face!" Larry said as Sal left his room and made his way back up to 402. After school, Sal went down to Larry's to grab his game boy,played the guitar with Larry a little bit and stayed for dinner because honestly- he couldn't say no to Lisa, Especially now that he's out of excuses. His dad's not home,what could he possibly tell her? That he already ate? Larry would be the judge of that. He wasn't sorry, though, Lisa's cooking always made him feel better- probably because he's not used to homemade meals.

He opened the door to the apartment and walked to his room, where was Gizmo, taking a nap on his bed. "Hey buddy. How was your day? You lazy cat." He held up Gizmo and set him on top of him as he sat down on the bed. "I missed you too." He said as Gizmo purred at the contact. The cat let out a long yawn. "You tired?", Sal chuckled ,"Me too bud. I'm real tired." He said with a sigh. While Gizmo fell back asleep on top of Sal, He leaned back and let himself drift into his thoughts again. He was awfully exhausted today. His nightmares are getting worse- He's used to them,but now his mother appears in almost every one of them and he doesn't know why.He didn't tell anybody anout this because bringing up his mother was difficult for him, to say the least. His father is back to his old 'habit' after a break of almost a year. Probably stressed because of work and these stuff, and Sal still feels bad he can't help him. And he hadn't been able to get Megan to come out in almost a month now. He hopes she's doing okay. Now that he thinks of it, he haven't checked in with Mrs.Sanderson in a while.

There was a bright light shining, and Sal felt dizzy all of a sudden. He's not in his room anymore. Gizmo is no longer there. He looks around. Nothing. 

Just white. 

He's in the white room again.

"Not again." He mutters.The air is thick. He feels heavy and he can barely hear anything,like his ears are stuffed. He's trying to concentrate and then he sees that familiar phantom that's been talking to him previously. Larry's father, to be exact, Jim johnson. After he found the journal with the whole truth in it, nothing had been the same anymore. He knows how sensitive Larry is about the subject of his dad. He still blames himself,and Sal knows that he'd do anything to find his dad if he could. But he can't tell him. He would'nt believe him. Even if he did, Sal has been told that it'd put him in great danger, and he can't let that happen to him.

 _"S-l"_ The phantom calls his name.

_"y-- m-st l-t g-,Sal."_

"what? I..I don't understand-" Sal responded. He feels like he's floating. He's barely focused enough to speak.

 _"yo- m-st let g-.we n-ed y-u on th-s s-de."_ Sal was truly confused. Sleepy and confused. "Let..go? What do you mean?"

 _"you mus- un-ind y-urs-lf fro- th-- w-rld, Sal.You ar- -ot l-ke t-- oth-rs. you are u-iqu-."_ "Unbind..from this...world? You don't mean.. i have to.." It took him a secound to realize. He couldn't be asking Sal to do this. He can't. He can't leave everyone. Why did they need him dead?   _"we d-n't h-v- mu-- t-me.You w-ll  b- al-igh-. Darkness is ----."_

He couldn't tell what should he do. Before he knew it, he was back in his room,on the bed with a sleeping Gizmo on top of him. Sal unclasped his prosthetic and set it on the nightstand with shaky hands.Then he broke down and cried his eyes out. He's terrrified. It can't be a dream. It repeated itself so many times before.Left him tired and confused every time, and he can't even tell anybody what he's going through.Every time it's just a flash of white, sounds that he can't make out into words and before he can respond, it's over. It's only now that he realizes what he has to do. He said that they didn't have much time, means..how much time he has wasted if only now he was able to understand? What if he was too late? ..His hands were shaking, when did they start shaking? What if he's actually their only hope? It's up to him. He has to be sure. He takes a deep breath,sets Gizmo aside from him and pulls the journal out of his backpack. 

 Sal flipped the pages until he reached the end. There was a new page he had never seen before. He felt shivers down his spine. This can't be real. Can it?

_"Your choice, Sal. Please make the right one. Remember,_

_You are unique."_

 

It's not a dream.

 

 His heart is hammering in his chest as he looks over to his nightstand, and takes a glance at his pill bottles. Antidepressants, Mood stabilizers, Sleeping pills. Perfect. As he walks towards the nightstand, Gizmo awakens and blocks his way. "I'm so sorry ,Giz, I have to do this." He leans forward to try and lightly move him aside. The rather large cat bites Sal's sleeve and starts to try and drag him the other way. "No- stop it, Gizmo. I have to."  Gizmo mewls desprately, as if he's pleading for Sal not to do this. It hurts Sal to hear this, but he has to. He grabs the pill bottle and downs half of it dry while tears are streaming down his scarred face. A couple minutes pass and he feels lightheaded. His legs feel numb. His breath is shallow. He looks at his hands. Blurry. Everything blurry. Is he sweating? he can't tell.He can feel his head pounding and his legs give in as the apartment door opens and a tired Henry fisher walks in. ~~~~

"I'm home." a loud thunk is heard from Sal's room.

Quite.

"Sal?"


	2. Something We Could Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woo that took awhile. I hope it's ok.  
> Enjoy!

 

 

Sal slowly opened his eyes, his head still aching slightly.He got up and looked around. He looked down and he couldn't believe his eyes. He looked at his hands and gasped- they were pale and almost completely transparent. There he was, his body lying on the floor like a ragdoll, helplessly torn from the side of the living. his hair's draped all over his face, his skin sweaty and even paler than usual (if even possible), and he was not breathing. At all. He looked at his pills on the floor, decorating the scene bitterly.

He watched Gizmo licking and softly biting his thumb, moving his hand around with his paws, mewling, trying to get any sort of reaction from his owner. He wanted to cry at that, but couldn't bring himself to let out the tears. apperantly ghosts cannot produce tears?

 

His father opened the door hasitantly, barely holding himself from physically breaking down at the heartbreaking sight of his son once he stepped into the room. He quickly ran over to Sal, crouched beside him and started searching for a pulse. His heart was aching at the old (and the not-so-old) scars on his son's wrist. It made Sal want to leave the room and complete whatever his mission was. He couldn't look at the pain he'd caused his father much longer.

He needed to find Jim.

 

* * *

 

"He..what?" Larry stared at his mother in complete shock."I know, hon.I know", Lisa sighed as she put the handset back down.  ", We should go see how are they doing upstairs.They might need us there right now." Her eyes filled with worry . Lisa let her arm rest on Larry's shoulder to comfort him. He could barely feel what was going on around him as they left the basment. He was shaken and confused. How- WHY would Sal do this? Just a few hours ago they laughed and played and ate together, he was fine! He..looked fine, at least.

 

They reached the fourth floor and Larry noticed paramedical staff at the entrance and the door that was left open. He looked over at his mother who seemed to be panicked just as much as he was. He didn't know if he was ready to see what's inside. They stepped inside, into the empty living room, and continued to Sal's room, and Larry definetly wasn't ready for what they witnessed there. His best friend lying on the floor unconcious,his head slightly leaning on his father for support,and Henry holding his hand shakily and crying quietly as a paramedic is trying to insert a needle in his arm for a blood transfusion. Larry almost broke down in tears when he noticed the pills scattered on the floor around them. He couldn't believe this was real, that Sal actually- No, he couldn't even say. He shouldv'e asked him again,he should've pressed the subject. Why did he let it go as if it was nothing? something was clearly wrong and he ignored it. Was it his fault that Sal did this? Maybe he thought Larry didn't care enough to ask. It wasn't like he had anyone else to talk to, and Larry pretty much ignored his misery. How could he do this to him? 

 

"Henry! Oh god.." Lisa ran over to the man. She caressed the young boy's hair slowly, tears pricking at her eyes. " Could you hold him still? ", The paramedic asked Lisa. "There we go." The blood transfusion now connected properly.

Larry walked over to them and crouched by Henry's side. Now he was definetly crying. "I know this might be hard to see, would you like to wait outside?" "No, it's okay, they're.. They're family." Henry replied. "Oh, well.. I see." The paramedic answered akwardly. "Well, I need to talk to you about his condition." He looked over at Larry and Lisa, hasitating: " I'll let you guys know. Just.." 

"Of course, Henry. Come, Larry. We'll wait outside." Lisa stated.

 

They had both left the room and sat on the couch, Lisa hugging her son,who was still sobbing, tightly.

After 3 minutes or so, Henry stepped out of the room and sat between the two. "He said they could stabilize him if he is hospitalized soon enough. I told him I want to be there beside him but I can't lose any more days of work," He sighed. ," Then he said they understand and they could set all the small mechanical stuff that he needs here but I.. I don't know if I can afford that and even when i'm home, I barely have time for him because of work." "I could watch over him for you." Lisa answered, " That way you'll know how he's doing and you won't have to leave your job." She smiled at him warmly. "Thank you so much, Lisa." His eyes watered at her kindness "But what about you? you have your own work to do around the building." "I'd help her with work and look after him too after school. Hell, I'd skip school every day to make sure he's okay." Larry replied.

 

 

"Did he say anything else?" Lisa asked Henry. "He asked about his medical history, about his usual behavior and if he.." He trailed off and bit his lip. Larry frowned. No way. "He has?" He asked hasitantly. "Larry!" Lisa gasped at her son's obliviousness.

Henry lowered his head slightly and nodded. He cleared his throat and replied shakily: "He was 14 at the time. He.. didn't trust me enough to tell me what he was going through. Sal couldn't take the bullying and I was no help at all,so he.." Tears poured out of his sad, blue eyes.

"Henry.." Lisa sighed. "I'm sorry,I just...He never told me anything about that." Larry apologized. "It's one of the reasons why we moved here. He couldn't face those kids again after this." Henry rememberd sadly how Sal came home crying every day and he didn't even ask. How he always looked nervous when he'd recognize one of his classmates in public. How he ate dinner alone in his room and got out of the shower only completely covered, because if he took the prosthetic or his shirt off, the bruises would show. And he, his own father, was always either passed out drunk, or out working until late. He could never blame Sal for not trusting him.

 

* * *

 

"Larry...calm down." Todd sighed.

Larry was pacing back and fourth in Todd's room, explaining their situation. "But- I don't get why..! I.. I just don't..", He sighed in defeat," He was..I knew something was wrong. I shouldv'e talked to him, It's my fault." Larry buried his head in his hands and groaned.

"No! Larry, don't you say that!", Ashley got up from Todd's bed and was now directly facing the dark haired teen. ,"There has to be something more to that..He's our friend, we've known him for so long, Sal wouldn't just..give up like that." "That's what I thought,ok? I mean, I knew he's strong but..-" Larry hasitated. "But what?" asked Todd, giving him a questioning look.

 

"He tried to do this before." There was silence.

 

"No.. no way. Sal? " Ash couldn't believe this. Sal was always being positive and cheerful even with everything he'd been through. Why would he try to actually..end it all?  "I thought there might be something more to that because.. he never told me about it."

 

"Guys, " Todd cut them off ,"you're forgetting that this is Sal. Our Sal. There has to be something beyond that we don't know about. Even if he tried to..-" "-Don't say it." Larry looked away from Todd's eyes as he continued- "Okay, but even if he did, he's a person. We know what he'd been through and it's a lot to bear at a young age,and so he probably have been through rough times for his issues. I'm positive that the reason he never shared this with any of us is that he feels like it doesn't matter. It's 100% legitimate that he doesn't want to talk about it for personal reasons, and what we need to do is realize if it has anything at all to do with our current situation." 

 

"Todd's right, maybe..we need to respect the fact that he never told us. I'm not sure i'd rush to tell anyone something like that. And we have to see what we CAN do." Ash reasoned.

"Now, maybe it has something to do with the cult?" Todd thought out loud. "Guys, come on..-" Ash sighed. She was always skeptic when the subject of paranormal and the cult came up. Larry looked over at Sal's Super Gear Boy placed on Todd's desk. 

 

"Maybe we could ask him."


	3. Back To The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taking my sweet ass time posting again- sorry for that. I think i should keep editing the chapters every once in a while, every time i add or finish another one, i feel like it turned out really bad. Maybe it's just me, or maybe i actually suck- whatever. I'm going to at least finish this fic. Even if it sucks i think it's ok, it's my first one after all. Keep that in mind and meanwhile, I'll do my best.  
> Enjoy!

"Are we really doing this?" Ash asked worried, trying to avoid looking at their unconscious friend on his bed. God ,Sal looked so fragile like that, and it made her feel weird for not noticing the fact that he was kind of small for a 16 year old. "You guys know that this..thing you use is theoretically for dead people, right? Sal's not.." "Yeah i know that, Ash." Larry cut her off, still unable to bear the thought of his best friend gone like that.

"Then what are we doing? If we know he's technically alive, how could we even talk to him?" She reasoned. Larry sighed, "I don't know, i thought.. He's not here with us, right? I mean,you know that usually I don't believe that crap of afterlife and that but.. He's not here, but he's not.. gone. So, he has to be somewhere. Right?"

Todd was silent their whole conversation, trying to avoid eye contact with them both as he adjusted the Super Gear Boy. "Todd?" Ash noticed that, apperantly. "Todd, what's up?" He tapped his foot anxiously, still not responding. "You know something, don't you?" Larry suspected. "What is it?" Ash kept on asking when he didn't reply. Todd sighed in defeat," I assume I cannot slip away from you two and your suspicions.", he handed the Gear Boy to Larry and readjusted his round glasses. "I came to believe that Sal is, In some way, a power source that is providing most of the energy for the Gearboy." "How is that.. even possible?" Larry asked, confused. "I couldn't figure it all out myself but.. I think there's something special about Sal and i'm not sure that he is aware of that. That is why i never brought it up." Todd exclaimed.

"Wait, you mean that Sal is, like, the actual thing that reacts to supernatural stuff?" Ash responded, still skeptic about the whole thing. "Maybe we shouldn't do it. How can we be sure we're not putting him in danger or something? besides, If you say he's the one activating the Gearboy, how are we going to make it work?" "Well, maybe it could work the other way! He's still the power source, it has to." Larry remarked desperatly. "Okay, let's do it." Todd declared.

Larry pointed the Gear Boy at his friend, Ash and Todd standing slightly behind him as the screen glows a familiar bright fluorescent green. "Holy shit. It's actually working." Ash gasped in disbelief. "Press the botton." Todd guided Larry. Larry pressed the red botton and all the three could see was a flash of green.

* * *

 

 Sal was walking down the hall of the fourth floor. The other side felt so..cold and abandoned. He felt like he was being watched, but that was nothing new. For awhile now, everywhere he'd go, he could feel a pair of eyes always watching in the back of his head but when he'd turn around- nothing.  It was always nothing.

Sal went down in the elevator all the way to the first floor. He used to see Jim in the treehouse, so that's where he was going to check first.

He stepped out of the elevator and heard a whisper that made him turn pale with fear. Almost sure he had heard his own name, he started walking faster.

 _"Sal-"_ yes, that was definetly his name.

 _"Sal..-"_ now it was no longer a whisper. It sounded like the voice calling his name was suffocating.

 _"Salvador..-"_ he covered his ears and started running down the hallway and out the back door.

* * *

 

 

The three opened their eyes to the sight of a field, on a seemingly sunny day. 

"Uh-where are we?" asked Larry, the other two just as confused.

"I told you guys this was a bad idea!" Ash called. "What the hell are we gonna do now?" , they looked around a bit and the GearBoy was nowhere to be found. Todd didn't say a word as Larry and Ash started to argue. "This is why we stay away from paranormal stuff- one second you try to talk to your dead friends and then-" "Sal is not dead!" Larry cut her off, irritated. "Chill, alright? we're gonna figure this out." He breathed out. "Ok,ok. What DO we know?" He tried to think. "It's a field, I don't think we're in nockfell though, it's too warm-"

"We know NOTHING!" "You're not helping, Ash!"- They were both cut off by a distant sound of dog barking. Larry frowned, feeling strange by the sudden atmosphere.

"I think, thanks for asking my opinion by the way, that we should follow the voice." Todd said, starting to walk towrds the faint sound and slowly into the woods, the two following behind.

 

"We still don't know where are we going though," Claimed Ashley. "True," said Todd, "But it is better than staying in place and waiting, isn't it?" -"Yeah you're stuck with us so how about we roll with it ok Ash?" Larry murmured. They all kept walking as the woods were slowly getting thicker. Larry's strange feeling was getting stronger as they walked. He swore he was familiar with this feeling but he didn't know why.

At some point he thought he heard a scream, a small, desperate call for help- but Ashley and Todd didn't even budge so he assumed it was just his mind playing tricks on him.

Boy was he wrong.

"Goddamit this is getting us nowhere! " Ashley was walking before them, trying to tie her hair back because of the hot, summer-like temperature. -"Ash would you stop complaining already? i know it fucking sucks but believe me if i could do something i would okay?" Larry groaned and bumped into her when she stopped walking. "What? what happened?" He asked. She let her hair down and started running forward. He and Todd looked at each other and started running after her." Ash what did you see??" Todd yelled after her and they stopped and looked at the terrifying sight.

A body.

 

Larry felt like he was going to throw up. There was so much blood, and the worst part is.. It was a kid. A blue haired kid, covered in blood. the bleeding was so bad you couldn't even make out the bruises or the cuts or whatever they were. They didn't seem to be breathing at all.

"Oh my god.." Ash gasped.

 Larry covered his eyes at this point. He was okay with drawing gore-ish things or owning posters of bleeding figures but this- he couldn't watch this. It was too much even for him. Feeling more sad than disgusted for this kid, the familiar feeling striking again and this time- he knows what's going on. Before he could say anything, a figure is standing not far away from them, running towrds the child.

"Shit, hide!" He whisper- yells before they run and hide behind a large bush."OH MY GOD, PLEASE-" It's a man, shaking and sobbing uncontrollably. He crouched near the little child and he seems so panicked that he doesn't know what to do. It doesn't take long before Ash and Todd realize what's going on. "Holy shit, wait that's-"

"Sal!" The 30+ version of Henry calls out in relief that his son is alive and somewhat responeding. "I knew I felt like i've been here before, but i haven't. I just felt the same feeling that i got when Sal told me what really happened to him.." Larry said.

"What happened to you? Can you tell me where's mommy?" The father asked, still crying and shaken up. At his words little Sal started to lose his weak grip on his father's hand, which had made him anxious again." No no no, god no-It was the damn dog, wasn't it? Oh fuck.." He swallowd and tried to calm his breath.

"A dog?" Ash asked. "No, it wasn't a dog. Sal told me the little bit he remembers from this is a man attacking his mom. No one ever believed him." Larry said. "I believe him."

 


	4. Now what?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oOf  
> yet again, i am an uninspired, sad, human-potato. Buuuut here's another chapter! I'd start blabbering with my thoughts and we'll never see the end of this so let's just.. not. anyway, enjoy!  
> TW: SELF HARM REFERENCE

Sal came out running the back door, towards the treehouse, He rememberd the times he thought he saw Jim in there. He had to be there, he knew it. From watching all of the sci-fi\horror movies he loved so much, he knew he probably didn't have much time. Oh god, how his father was worried about him, why did he do this to him? He's already stressed enough, there's no way he's going to be able to go through this again. Does Larry know already or- OH MY GOD HIS FRIENDS. What were they going to think? Larry would probably blame himself, Sal didn't want that. Coming to think of it it's kind of his own fault that he felt like this, he never shared his emotions with anyone since things started to 'go wrong'. He couldn't bring himself to talk about his emotions- even though everyone asked if he was ok, several times- How could he? his dad couldn't talk 24\7, as much as he trusted Larry he couldn't bring up the subject of his mother, and honestly it was just weird to share his feelings or details from his nightmares with Ashley or Todd or anyone else. And they were all happy and had their own issues to deal with. Sal knew it was wrong to keep it all to himself, but he'll explain it all after he's done with this. 

What WOULD his friends say? Yes, he was feeling a little down lately, well not 'a little', but surely not enough to do THIS to everyone he loved.He had other ways of coping with his feelings. Ways that his father didn't like at all, -but what he doesn't know can't hurt him, right? -And not just his old method- he didn't like it very much either. He had his music, even if he couldn't just play the guitar in 3:15 in the morning. And he had tried venting with art, which had turned out more frustrating than helpful since he sucked at it.Also it looked like a creepy call for help- It was a good decision not letting Larry look at his minds creation drawn poorly on paper- Larry would just worry more about him if he got to see it. So yes,he's not excatly mentally stable, But he would never go this far for his own sake, it was a selfish thing to do. He wanted to believe it all had nothing to do with his semi-suicide.

It was for the sake of their lives, even if they didn't know it yet. He felt so bad for putting everyone through this pain and worry- but he knew he couldn't think of this now, he had to focus. For them. He can't feel bad for them,his own feelings don't matter. He'll explain it all, but first he has to finish this.

 

He reached the treehouse and climbed in. Even in the treehouse you could see the difference between the worlds. It was darker, colder, and the atmosphere was a lot more.. depressing and probably lonely to live in. Sal could immediately spot Jim , standing (?) where he used to see him in the world of the living. He didn't look human, more glitchy and mysterious but not in the same way like in his dreams or when he appeared in the world of the living before. 

"Jim? I'm here, i did what you asked me to. I.." Sal exclaimed.

"Good, Sal. We have wasted time, and there's a lot of explaining to do. Mainly, you and your friends are in danger." Jim stated. "What do you mean?" ,"You know too much and THEY believe you are able to stop them.They see you as a threat. We might not be able to stop them completely, but we can prevent the damage that they are planning. What they want is control, until they are able to achive their purpose. But you are in their way. Now, there is something you must know. They can't take you down, because they need you." It was strange to finally hear Jim's voice without glitching or fuzziness. Just a little echo-ish, but he could still understand.

"The cult needs me? What could they possibly need me for?" Sal questioned. "You have a strength that you are not aware of. You are the key. Years ago, they marked you.. so they'd know to leave fate to do it's part. But the ones surrounding you, they are your weakness. This is why i needed you in the other world, so you can fix this without getting them hurt." 

 _They did this to me?_   _D_ _id they kill mom too?_ "But what can i do?" "Well, for once, you can communicate with the living and with the dead, with the help of a bridging object. For example, your GearBoy."  "Is that why I can talk to ghosts? I didn't know it had something to do with me. " 

"Yes, and in this world you will not specifically need an object, but an ally. But you need to act wisely, because they can use your energy against you. They need this power to achive their goal." the phantom explained. " Alright, i'll be careful, but..An ally? so I need to choose someone to communicate with from the other world, and they'll bring me back?" He followed."Yes. Now,what you need to do. They are operating on every floor of the building to break the line between the worlds, so that they can use your energy to their purposes. This is a very dangerous thing to do but it is a step that they need to take in order to move on to the ritual. You will need to find a way to stop them before they succeed. The most important floor is the fifth, if you stop them there, you end it all. You can even skip floors if you're worried you'll run out of time, but this might be difficult to do. They'll hunt you so you must be careful." So that was the voice that he heard on his way out. _Great, they're gonna be using my nightmares against me_ , he thought.

"Okay, i think iv'e got this." Sal exclaimed. "Once again, be careful. I trust you with this Sal." 

"Alright." Sal breathed in deep (as much as he could as a ghost-) and out. " I can do this."

* * *

 

 Ashley kept wondering if actually there was more to Sal than his happy little self. If he had other sides she never got to know. She wanted to believe Larry and Todd and their explanation for Sal's sudden attempt, but it was nearly impossible for her. She didn't want to think Sal would do this, but if he did, it's like she doesn't really know him. Especially if he already tried before. Was Sal really that optimistic and friendly? or was it all a show? She found this hard to believe to,even a bit more than the cult story. I mean, he probably was complicated, but not nearly enough to put on an act all the time. Right?

"Wait a second," Larry started," if Sal and his dad are here-" 

"Where's his mother?" Todd completed. "Shit dude, I can't look at this. We should really try to find Diane." Ash bit her lip at the gruesome sight in front of them. "Well, if both of them were attacked by the same thing, she must be somewhere around here." Larry mused.

They turned to look around the bushes and trees surrounding them, the strong smell of blood still present. The Younger Henry suddenly left his son's side, got up and started to follow them. A faint sound of sirens could be heard from afar. "What is he doing? he's coming this way," Ash whispered. Larry and Todd turned their heads to Henry. His face was wet from the tears, he was shaking and looked completely crushed.

"I ..Don't think he is able to see us." Todd stated as he stood right in front of them. "Then what is he-" They followed his gaze,  all three gasping at the sight of his dead wife behind them as he walked past. She had a bleeding wound on the top of her forehead, and her left side of the face was bruised. "Diane.." Henry cried, "honey can you hear me?" Henry fell to his knees beside her, choking on his tears.

The three teens gasped and breathed heavily as they found themselves on the floor of Sal's room, his body still laying on the bed beside them.

"What the hell.. was that?" Ash asked the two boys, frightened and confused. "I.. I don't know. A dream? I mean, we weren't asleep but.." Larry thought out loud. "More like a flashback or something-" "-I think.. we just got into Sal's mind." Todd cut Ashley off."How is this even possible?" She asked. "Well.. spiritually he is not in this world. And we used the GearBoy on his body. The result is not a way to communicate with Sal, but a glimpse to his subconsciousness." 

"This is crazy." Larry and Ash said in unison. There was silence. "Should we.. do it again?" Ash suggested hasitantly. "You mean breaking into your best friend's thoughts and memories? Why the hell would we do that, Ash? We can't talk to him, this is no help at all and actually this is just creepy." Larry argued. "I know! But.. I thought maybe we could.. See if there was a reason for his..You know.He never told us anything so.." Ash hinted. Larry stopped to think. This was wrong, Sal's thoughts belonged to him and this was definetly an invasive thing to do, but on the other hand- he never said anything. There had to be a reason, he felt like Sal didn't just do this out of the blue. There has to be something more to it.

"Okay," Larry sighed, "But if we see something we're not supposed to, i swear to god i'll enslave Todd and lock him up in my room until he invents a memory-erasing- kind of thingy for us. No one breaks into my best bro's privacy. Get it?" "Yessir." Ashley murmurs. "Ok, let's just.. not mess with anything in there, alright?"

Todd picked up the Gameboy and handed it to Ashley." Guess it's your turn, Ash." "Um, okay."

"Here we go again-" Larry said. And again, there was a bright flash of green and the three passed out and fell to the floor.


	5. A Glimpse To The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The squad finds themselves in Sal's memories again. They witness things that might shed some light on Sal's previous attempt.  
> TW: self harm (non graphic)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okok i'm so sorry for taking so long- i literally have no excuse for that other than pure lazyness. plus i thought no one was reading this anyway (which turned out to be wrong apperantly- seriously fricikn thank you for the comments it means a lot) uwu

Ashley was the first one to open her eyes,grunting as the sunlight dazzeled her eyes. This time they all were on the floor for some reason. Larry helped her and Todd up and they were trying to figure out where they were. Again, certainly not in Nockfell. "I'm guessing this is somewhere in the northern side of New Jersey," Todd stated. ",Given the climate and vegetation in this area." "I mean, Sal did grow up in Jersey, so that makes sense." Larry replied.

They noticed a group of kids having a complicated secret handshake and running together towards.. a school. That's where they are- a middle school. It was a big building divided in two with about two floors and a playground, all surrounded by an iron fence. The place didn't look great, but it wasn't neglected as well.  All and all, it seemed like a nice place to grow up in, but as they remembered Sal's stories and bits of information about this place, the kids were horrible people and it was a living hell for him. Speaking of Sal,"Look!" Todd exclaimed. The other two turned their heads to the small road passing by the school, filled in a line of cars and students crossing over. 

They spotted one familiar, blue haired kid shutting the door of one of the cars and heading towards the school as well as the other kids, although semmingly trying to avoid them. "Look at him, he seems so scared of everyone." Ash stated in pity as they stepped a bit closer to him. He kept looking around him cautiously,gripping the straps of his school bag, stepping away from large groups of people and walking faster when he had the chance. Larry felt a sting in his heart at the sight. "That's how he was like in the first day of school in Nockfell. Like he was ready to be judged or made fun of," He commented. 

As they followed him inside, they noticed him being 'greeted' by some kids. They grabbed his school bag and swinged him forward, making him hit one of the lockers and muttering "loser" as he fell to the floor. He didn't say a word.  Didn't even get up until they walked away, laughing. "Fucking assholes." Larry could feel his blood boiling. "This is horrible. He shouldn't be treated like that. Kids are actually seeing this happening and they do nothing. That's fucked up." Ash exclaimed.

They kept following him to his locker, which was decorated in words like "Sally face","Kill yourself","Freak" and another whole load of sweet insults. Very much like Sal, it had grungy stickers and doodles, papers about paranormal activities and unsolved, unexplained cases (things that he was always very interested in) and a built in mirror on the inside of the door. He fixed his hair that started reaching down to his shoulders, checked his mask straps, and very strangely, grabbed the locked door and pulled on it a bit so he was looking right at the three through the mirror. He than turned around and looked at them,  but he kept turning his head around so apperantly he couldn't see them. "What was that." Ash asked, looking at Larry utterly confused. "I assume that he noticed us since this is a memory, and we are a part of Sal's memories, but not this particular part and that is why he couldn't actually see us." Todd explained. 

In every class through the day, he was being bullied. The kids pulled on his hair, tripped him, threw things at him, called him names, but he mostly ignored them all.Until at lunch one guy tried to pull off his mask. Of course, he panicked and he wasn't going to let him, and punched him in the face. "Holy shit, the kid can punch." Larry was amused, FINALLY he stood up for himself. Unfortunatley for Sal, the guy that he punched was taller, surrounded by other bullies, and very unhappy.  
"We're going to fuck ya up, Fisher. Watch out." he slurred, holding to his nose in pain, and pushed past him knocking him down to the floor, again. Now Sal was hyperventilating, he couldn't believe he just did that. He quickly Grabbed his backpack and sprinted to the closest bathroom, making sure it was empty before going in. Larry followed him inside as he locked the main door and curled up in a corner, pulling on his hair at the sides. "Shit,shit, shit, he's gonna kill you. He's gonna fucking kill you you fucking idiot." He was shaking and crying and almost choking on his own breaths. He was having a panic attack, Larry assumed, wanting to comfort him like he always did but remembered that he coulden't hear. Still, he figured that even if it won't help, he needed to say something. "It'll be fine, little dude." He said, and stepped closer to him.  His head shot up, trying to spot where did the voice come from.

Okay, he definetly heard that. "Great. Now i'm  going crazy," he laughed out with no humor in his voice and got up to wash his face in the sink. He unclasped the straps of the mask and set it aside. Trying to avoid looking at himself he scraped his nailpolish, and washed his hands. He failed,  he was now facing the bloodbath that his own bits of skin covered.  Unintentionally, he found himself still crying. Larry watched as he drew his fingers along his cheek, following the deepest scar on his face that splitted in the area of his nose and followed up to his bad eye. He than brushed his fingers against the other side of his face, that's when Larry noticed he had a visible bruise on his other cheek. When he touched it he visibly cringed, and Larry knew that bruise wasn't made by a bully.

When Sal calmed down he froze and looked over to his backack. He then looked away, pondering something. Rubbing his forearm anxiously like he always did, he gulped and opened his bag. he pulled out a small plastic box, a bit bigger than a thumb, and breathed out in hasitation. Larry felt like he knew what's inside of this little box. After a minute he shook his head and put the small box back as the bell rang.  Quickly zipping his schoolbag shut and clapsing his mask back on tightly, he ran off to class.

"Is he okay? What happened to him?" Ash asked Larry. "He had a panic attack." Larry said nothing about the box, but was disturbed by it. "Understandable. We've seen what he has to go through every day here." Todd remarked. "Not just here, apparently." Larry murmured, remembering the bruise on his cheek.

The end of the day had arrived. Masses of students flocked toward the main doors and Ash,Larry and Todd couldn't imagine how frightening that was for a shortie like Sal. He pinned himself to the walls until everyone left to he wouldn't be trampled to death. Fiddling nervously with the hem of his shirt, he made his way to his locker. As he opened it a note fell out, and it said;

_No one would miss you. :)_

He crumpled the note with tears in his eyes, slammed his locker door shut, shoving in into his bag as he ran outside. He tried to ignore it, he really did, but thing like these were the ones that got to him.

His dad was at work and he missed the bus again, which meant he was walking home today. On the way outside he was grabbed from behind, dragged and thrown to the floor, the back of his head hitting a concrete wall. "Shit!" Ashley called out  and they started to run towards him.  
They were too far away. They couldn't do anything except for watching in horror as he was punched and kicked until he couldn't even stand. Todd and Ash couldn't look. Larry was shaking in anger in a way he'd never felt before. When they got to them he stood behind the bullies, recognizing the tall guy from the incident at lunch- who was reaching for Sal's now split broken mask, as Sal was just laying there barely able to move- and he was pissed. The bullies turned around in horror and one short freckled guy shouted; "Shit! High schoolers!" and they all ran away in fright, them and their bloody fists disappearing in the distance.  


Before even questioning why could they see them, they ran over to Sal and kneeled next to the short 14 year old. He was confused, and bloody and weak. Mostly, he was scared. "W..what do you want?" he asked weakly, trying to crawl away from them. "Are you okay?" They asked him. He thought he was dreaming. That's how it ends, huh? With a pretty girl, a scary looking guy and a geek leaning over you before you die. he blacked out for two minutes and when he couldn't see them anymore he tried getting up and walking back home.   
They couldn't help him, as much as they wanted to. As if someone had pressed a botton that says 'skip', The three showed up in an old looking apartment, with blue walls and dusty furniture. The first thing that they'd noticed is Sal Lying face-first onto the carpeted floor covered in bruises and blood ,holding a metalic object, and Henry, coming up the stairs to find his son.  


That's when they woke up.


End file.
